ABSTRACT
Today’s dominant development discourse is predicated on the supremacy of Western values driving standardised norms for the “improvement” of living conditions across the Global South. This understanding of development centres the “formal” versus “informal” binary to differentiate between living environments that meet those Western norms and those deemed not to do so. Thus, the formal–informal binary ignores a plurality of self-determined formation and improvement of living environments. Such community-driven development efforts, though recognised in global agendas and national policy and programmes, are seldom supported through implementation. This chapter reflects on issues faced in the South African context through the authors’ grounded action research over the past two decades. In collaboration with the community’s human rights lawyer, the research has supported the quest of the Harry Gwala “informal settlement” and its civic organisation for recognition in the process of improving their own community. With reference to the UN’s 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development, which promotes self-determination, this chapter finds that the formal–informal binary is ill-fitting to the community’s ambitions and the complex interaction between the civic community and the state.
